The Problem
by SelenityCosmos
Summary: Cassie wants to stay with Jack, not Sam, because of Pete
1. Set Up

It was raining.

Hard.

Cassie was soaked though by the time she knocked on Jack O'Neill's door. "Door's open!" was the reply from somewhere in the house. She pushed the door open and dumped her bags just inside the door, shaking her dripping hair like her dog did. Toto, the dog, did the same as Jack came to meet her. "Cassie?" he asked taking in her appearance.

"Is it okay if move in with you for a while, Jack?" Cassie asked, her large eyes open wide.

A frown crossed the man's face before he answered, "Sure, Cass, your room is just how you left it." He crouched down to pet the affectionate mutt as Cassie turned with her bags in hand once more, "Oh, and Cass?"

"Yes, Jack?" Cassie spoke hesitantly, afraid that he would change his mind or make her get Samantha's permission.

"Cut it with the eyes." was all he said.

She tried to grin.

By the time Cassie had had taken a nice long, hot shower the living room was full of all her favorite people. Jack, Daniel, and Teal'c shared the couch while Jacob and George took two of the recliners. "Um… Hi?" Cassie said, feeling less than dressed in the thick white towel.

All four of the newly arrived men bounced up to hug her, which would have been award, but these men were family. "I'm gonna go change" she muttered, still feeling somewhat uncomfortable, as she headed back to her room. "Hey, Cass, grab a drink from the fridge- no you cant have a beer- and come get some pizza."Jack called after her. As Cassie got a soda Jack explained the sudden appearance of their family, "Tonight was supposed to be a team night, but from what happened earlier, I'm guessing that Sam won't be joining us."

Jacob grumbled, "Can't wait to hear her explanation for that!"

Teal'c meet Cassie's eyes as she took her place on Jack's lap, "Why are you here, Cassandra?" He asked seriously. Looking around, Cassie saw that all the men had similar expressions on their faces. It was the I'm-going-to-kill-that-boy face. Suffice to say that the boys who dated her or worse, broke up with her, had a hard time. "O'Neill has informed us that you requested to reside here, rather than with Colonel Carter."

Cassie grimaced, "Pete spends nearly every night there, now. I don't like him, especially with Sam, and I don't want to ever risk catching them in the act." She felt Jack tense, but were no other signs from him that this was upsetting.

However, it was not hard to tell that Jacob was upset, "Who the HELL is Pete and why is he staying over at MY daughter's house when an eighteen year old girl is living there, too?" he barked at the other occupants of the room. Jacob's eyes flashed, "While Jacob may be a little bit over protective of his Samantha, I, too, wonder why he stays the night while Cassandra is home." Selmak hissed angrily.

"Mum, Stalker-Cop is your son's best friend." Daniel said with venom.

Cassie was surprised to see that even Teal'c looked disgusted, "That Pete?" Selmak/Jacob asked, distain dripping from his words. Jack wrapped his arms around Cassie, hugging her tightly to his chest as if she could protect him from the facts.

"I have a game idea." Cassie said, a wicked smile blossoming on her face, "Here's how we play…"


	2. Round One

The game was called: How Pete Should Die.

After Cassandra explained the rules, Daniel couldn't help but laugh. They each had to think of the best way possible to get rid of Pete Shanahan. After everyone had thought of one way, they would vote on the best answer. Jacob had quickly gotten out a pad of paper and Teal'c helped Cassie search for more. An uncomfortable and guilty looking Jack went to get everyone more beer.

All six of them sat around with note cards and pencils thinking. After a couple minutes the note card started to trickle down to Cassie. Jack was the last to turn his note card in. "Okay," Cassie said as she shuffled the cards, "I'll read them aloud once, and then the second time around, we'll vote." Cassie took a swig of diet coke and then began, "Symbiote-blood injection… ouch… Naquadria radiation, firestick torture, zatted then beaten then firestick-ed then hand device-ed then staff blasted, tal'vac acid, and burnt to death by the two suns on P9Q-281." Cassie's eyes were wide by the time she finished.

There was a long moment of silence.

"This game rocks!" exclaimed Daniel, who was on this third beer. Teal'c deftly removed the half finished beer as George and Jacob chuckled.

"I kinda' like the twin sun one." Jack softly, "I don't think I'd wish the acid, radiation, or symbiote poisoning on anyone." There was another moment of quite.

"Maybe, Jack, but Pete does always want to know more about Sam's job… Being zatted then beaten then firestick-ed then hand device-ed then staff blasted would help him learn what she does." George argued reasonably.

"Indeed." Teal'c agreed with a hint of upturned lips.

"I'll second that." Jacob put in. Cassie grinned and nodded.

"Humph!" Daniel grumped at the others. "I pick Jack's choice. 'Cause he's my best-est friend and you guys are being mean! Teal'c even took away my drink!" Daniel pouted.

"Thanks, so much, space-monkey." Jack said dryly, "So who's answer was the winner anyway?" he asked the girl. Cassie grinned.

"Mine." She replied smugly.

"Well, then, genius, how are we going to get Pete somewhere where that would actually happen?" Jack queried.

"Easy." George interrupted, "Walter 'misdials' for me."

"But Walter NEVER misdials." Whined Daniel.

Jack rolled his eyes, "Would you really want him to when you are going though, Danny-boy?" Daniel pouted some more. "More importantly, how would we keep him alive long enough fore each attack? He may be a good cop, but Goa'uld and Jaffa are out of his league." This had all six people go silent thinking.

Strangely is was Daniel who came up with the answer, "Well, we won't really send him to the Goa'uld. We send him to the Tok'ra. How will he know the difference?" The others stared at Daniel in aw, "And we could tell them that he's a Goa'uld and dress stalker-cop in gold lame!"

"A brief moment of sobriety and then…" Jack shook his head.


	3. Round Six

"Chokes to death on a marshmallow!" George guffawed.

Cassie and Teal'c exchanged a look over Jack's silver head. It was pretty safe to say that the game had dissolved into complete and utter nonsense. All four human men were three sheets to the wind. Unsurprisingly, Jacob was the last to end up fully hammered, but even Selmak was slurring words now.

Cassie, who was more than a little sugar high gasped for breath and than, holding on to Jack, spoke, "Okay, we have drowning in blue Jell-o, Kitten attack, meditation, tricycle accident, chokes to death on a marshmallow, and overdose of antibiotic cream." This announcement earned another five minutes of uproarious laughter.

"Waits- waits!" Selmak cried, "I wanth tho add thoaps! Thoaps are eeeeviiil!" the bright eyes symbiote informed them warningly.

Cassie giggled as Daniel, George, ad Jack tried to decipher what the snake had said. Teal'c lifted an eyebrow, "I believe you mean soap operas, Selmak."

Selmak snorted in disbelief, "Of corth I menth thoaps, Murwy!"

Teal'c smirked as Cassie laughed harder. At some point the men had decided that 'Teal'c' was too hard to say and began to call him 'Murry' which had now melted down to 'Murwy'.

"Okay, okay!" Cassie giggled, "We'll add soaps! Jack you don't get to vote because of the wasted Jell-o… and Daniel gets negative one point for improbability. Really, Daniel? Meditation?" Cassie shook her head.

"I vote for the tricycle accident!" Jack announced.

Cassie groaned, "Jack!"

Jack grinned, "Oh, right,"

"I will support the juvenile feline offensive." Teal'c told the others Daniel mouthed the words as Jacob and Jack blinked.

"I pick jell-o!" George told then, just about bouncing in his chair.

"Me, too" Jacob said, shaking his head and trying to focus. Cassie wrote all of this down and turned to Daniel.

Daniel was still trying to understand what Teal'c had said. "Daniel?" Cassie asked. Daniel just continued to mouth the words 'juvenile feline offensive' and Cassie had no choice but to write that down as his answer as Daniel continued to puzzle through the previous offering.

"I like the kittens, too." Cassie declared, "Which means Grandpa Jacob is in the lead again with 34 points, then Jack with 31 points, then me with twenty seven, then Grandpa George with twenty six, then Teal'c with twenty three, and Daniel comes in dead last with stunning negative thirteen points."

Jack patted Daniel on the back, "Don't worry, Danny. You will always be the one who ends up with a girl on every planet." Daniel nodded sadly.

"I know." Daniel replied.


	4. Round Seven

Sam was not happy to learn that Cassie had left the house without talking to her, but she was incredibly relived to see the girl's car in the driveway of Jack O'Neill's house. Cassie was safe her at Jack's. Though, now that she thought about it, Sam seemed to recall that there was a reason that there where four cars at Jack's instead of two.

Crap.

Team night. The General had been having these get-togethers so that SG-1 would have adequate down time. It was one of the few ways that the four of them could truly relax and not need to watch what they say. Cassie came whenever she could and there was something else about tonight's team night…

Holy, Hanna!

General Hammond and her father were going to joining them tonight. And she had missed it. She missed a chance to see her father to spend time with her boyfriend. Her boyfriend who she… liked.

Oh, god.

She and Pete were _engaged_! She was going to marry the man and she still called him her boyfriend! She liked him? Great! For better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to _like_ and to cherish, till death do us part. That would go over well.

Her family probably didn't even notice that she hadn't shown up to night. They probably didn't even care that she was on a date instead of here with them. Sam flipped through the keys in her hand until she reached Jack's.

She opened the door to the sound of at least three men snoring. She covered a smile as she entered the living room to see her father and General Hammond asleep in the big comfy chairs and Daniel sprawled out on the floor. All three looked happy and all three were snoring loudly.

Teal'c was kel'no'reeming outside on the porch- or sleeping, Sam wasn't sure which- looking very content.

Last she looked over at the couch. Jack and Cassie were wrapped around one another like kittens sleeping together. Sam had never seen anything so wonderful in her life. The moon shown on the two turning Cassie's hair more blond and Jack's silver hair ethereal. The lines on Jack's face were almost invisible and he looked ten- or eight- years younger.

There were beer bottles everywhere, diet soda cans littering the table and floor, and two enormous cranberry juice bottles on the counter next to a multitude of empty ice cream tubs, empty chip bags, and used bowls of salsa, guacamole, and nacho cheese. There was a mountain of empty pizza boxes on the table in the dinning room.

Sam shook her head.

Her boys sure could eat.

Silently, Sam gathered up all the bottles and cans and took them out to the recycling. She gathered the ice cream tubs, chip bags, and pizza boxes and took out the trash. She washed all the bowls, spoons, and cookware and dried them and put them away. She cleaned the tables and counters and then went back to the living room. She covered her father, George, and Daniel with blankets and then carefully tucked a blanket around Jack and Cassie- that's when she noticed all of the lists.

Best Ways to Kill Pete

Most Painful Ways to Kill Pete

Sneakiest Ways to Kill Pete

Hands On Ways to Kill Pete

Hands _Off_ Ways to Kill Pete

Silliest Ways to Kill Pete

The lists went on and on. The one that still had the pencil on it was Ways to Get Rid of Pete Without Killing. Ernest's planet, Mayborn, taken as a host, time "accident", Martin's memory drug, and X- 301 "accident". Sam had to chuckle.

Apparently they did know where she was and they did care. Sam took one of the few remaining note cared and carefully scribbled down her own answer. Sam tucked the paper into Cassie's hand and then headed for the door.

Sam didn't want to wake them up ore intrude on their bonding time. She would come by tomorrow morning with coffee, aspirin, and cake as a peace offering. Then, in the afternoon, Sam would meet up with Pete. She wasn't being fair to either of them. She couldn't marry someone she didn't love. With one last look at Jack and Cassie, Sam got into her car and drove home.

The card on the table read **Family**.


End file.
